Hobensack, Miller to play for Lima city golf title
Jun. 26—Maybe Joe Hobensack and Zach Miller are built for match play golf and built to play for championships.
When the pressure is on, they deliver. At least that was a big part of the story of how they became the two golfers who will decide the winner of the Championship Flight of the Lima City Men's Golf Championship today at the Shawnee Country Club.
Hobensack defeated Logan Dray 2-and-1 in one of the Championship Flight semifinals on Saturday and Miller was a 2-up winner over Justin Akers in the other semifinal.
Both finalists had to face pressure in their semifinals.
Miller went up two holes early but Akers drew even by the end of the front nine. Miller rebuilt his lead to two holes with five to play but Akers erased that advantage in just two holes.
Miller rolled in a 5-footer for par at No. 16 to stay even. Then, after his tee shot on No. 17, landed on the far side of No. 16's fairway, he put his second shot on the green and won the hole to go up by one hole.
His tee shot at No. 18 landed in a bunker to the right of the green but he got to within 10 feet of the hole with his second shot, which eventually meant he could clinch a spot in the finals by two putting.
"I wasn't really nervous about it. I love the pressure coming down the stretch. I just kind of feed off of it," Miller said. "I had to hit the pressure shots. Down the stretch it was just hit the shots. It came down to it and I won the last two (holes)."
Hobensack dealt with similar pressure and a different kind of duress. He was down by two holes just eight holes into the match before winning five in a row from No. 9 through No. 13. And he spent a lot of time in the trees throughout his match.
"I went from two down to three up. That was obviously huge," Hobensack said.
"I was Houdini today, an escape artist. I've been in the trees so much it doesn't really bother me anymore. I know how to get out of them," he said.
"It was on (No.) two, three, five, just keep going. It was a lot. But I escaped and made some really nice pars. In match play when you do that it can work to your advantage with your opponent. It shakes them up a little bit."
Dray had anyone who watched him play all week shaking their heads at how far he hit the ball.
Hobensack said he and his caddie measured the difference between his drive and Dray's on No. 12, a par 5.
"I hit a really good one and he was 67 yards ahead of me. "I decided I was going to wear him out with old man golf — hit it down the middle, hit greens and make pars," Hobensack said.
Miller and Hobensack are both Allen East High School graduates, but almost three decades apart. Miller graduated this year and Hobensack is 45 years old and Miller's mother was in his graduating class.
Whoever wins, they will be a first-time city champion. Hobensack said he has been waiting for a chance to play for the city title for around 30 years.
"It's something I've been looking forward to for a long time. We'll see what happens," he said.
Championships will be determined in seven other flights today.
Michael Sarno and Rich Dackin will play for the First Flight title. Greg Stumbaugh and Josh Buetner will play for the Second Flight championship.
Tim Windau and Troy Breidenbach will play for the Senior Championship Flight trophy.
In the Senior Open 1 Flight, Christian Inskeep and Chad Smiley are in the final pairing. The Senior Open 2 Flight's two finalists are Jeff Harris and Frank Pugh.
Mike Allen will play Bob Moser in the Super Seniors 1 Flight and Doug Kent will play Bob Hollar in the Super Seniors 2 Flight.
Reach Jim Naveau at 567-242-0414.
